Rotary card index and tray



K. H. MILLER ROTARY CARD INDEX AND TRAY oct. y28, 1947. y

Filed Sept. 8, 1945 I 5 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 28, 1947.- K. Hv.-Ml| LER ROTARY CARD INDIE-X AND TRAY Filed sept'. 28 1945 5 sheets-sheet 5 WIIYWMIIIV/lllll Patented Oct. 28, 1947 ROTARY CARD INDEX AND TRAY Karl H. Miller, North Canton, Ohio, assignor to Diebold, IncorporatedLCanton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application September 8, 1943, Serial No. 501,567

1 Claim. (Cl. 129-16) The invention relates to a rotary card index or tray in which cards are mounted on a preferably circular carrying-rail or a section thereof.

Thus in Bruen -Patents Nos. 2,168,323 and 2,235,736, cards are mounted on a peripheral carrying-rail which is composed of a plurality of arcuate sections detachably mounted on a wheel. Also, a card carrying-rail section may be detachably mounted on a desk tray as shown in Bruen Patent No. 2,240,325. Moreover, the card carrying-rail section, although shown in said patents -as being detachable, may be formed as an integral part of a tray or wheel section.

In any of such constructions, the cards are mounted on one or more carrying-rails, each of which has a keyhole shape in cross section by engaging each rail head within a keyhole slot or .aperture formed in the bottom`of each card.

I-Ieretofore, such carrying-rails, because of their complicated shape particularly when they are arcuate sections, have been made of die cast metal. After the usual semi-finishing operations to make the surfaces thereof as smooth as possible, the sections are plated with copper and finally with vchromium to provide a smooth surface so that changeable on the periphery of the mounting Wheel.

This difficulty arises, due to the practical impossibility of exactly locating the spacing distance between each set of pins around the periphery of the wheel when a plurality of sets of pins are used for mounting a plurality of segment bars or rail sections.

The greatest difficulty, however, which occurs in the use of the described prior constructions, is that the cards which are mounted on the rail heads, in continually sliding back and forth along the rail heads in use, and which cards are usually made of fiat, stiff, paper or cardboard, may wear at the edges of the keyhole slot therein and may result in fraying or-feathering of the edge of the keyhole slot. In other words, the contact surface between the cards and rails must be 2 Y perfectly smooth and entirely free of pits or roughness in order to avoid such wear.

Moreover, the continual sliding action of the cards back and forth along the rail head may wear away the plated surface on the rail head so as to roughen the same and ultimately expose the die cast metal, which is considerably rougher than the plated metal surface thereon. If the plated metal wears away or corrodes and if the surface of the rail head becomes rougher, it in turn may cause a faster wearing away of the keyhole slot edge of the card. Therefore the cards sometimes become so Worn that they are not retained on the rail head and must be replaced. In other words, considerable care and expense is involved to assure a smooth rail contact and to eliminate Wear.

Finally, the sliding of the cards back and forth on the metal rail section during the constant use and movement of a rotary card index is noisy. Moreover, the mounting of the rail sections on the pins 0f the carrying Wheel may give a clicking noise during movement of the wheel unless the engagement between the pins and slots in the rail segment is perfect; and this ordinarily is not the` case because of the tolerances which must be maintained for interchangeability.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide 'a rotary card index or tray carrying-rail construction, which is cheaper to make than the present metal construction thereof.

Furthermore, it is an object of the presentinvention to provide a rotary card index and tray carrying-rail construction, which eliminates the use of critical die cast and plating metals.

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rotary card index and tray carrying-rail construction which is quieter in operation with cards mounted thereon than when metal carrying-rails are used.

Finally, it is a paramount object of the present invention to provide a rotary card index and tray carrying-rail construction, which substantially reduces the wear and fraying on cards mounted thereon.

I have discovered that the wearing action of the cards upon the metal rails and of the rails upon the cards may be materially reduced by forming the rail of molded plastic material. I have unexpectedly discovered that in actual use, the continued sliding of the cards back and forth along a carrying-rail formed of plastic material,

has a smoothing or polishing action upon the surf face of the plastic material rail head, so that it becomes smoother and smoother and the wear upon the cards is less and less.

Moreover, I have discovered that it is not necessary to polish or nish the molded plastic surface of a plastic rail section in any way, except for bufng off the fin at the mold parting line, because of the smoothing, polishing or finishing action of the cards upon the rail during use thereof.

Also, a plastic carrying-rail section or segment bar is much cheaper to manufacture than one of metal, and the operation of the cards thereon is much quieter than on a metal rail. Moreover, the plastic rail sections are lighter in weight than metal rail sections and therefore reduce the work expended by and fatigue of the operator or user of the rotary or tray index. These are very valuable advantages in the very extensive and constantly increasing use of rotary and tray card indexes.

Many of the myriad kinds of available moldable thermoplastic materials may be used. I have found that a cellulose-acetate-butyrate plastic material `is very satisfactory. The thermoplastic material should have medium hardness or brittleness so as to give some flexibility. It must not be so hard or brittle that it cracks or 'breaks when the card load thereon is vshifted and results in shock as awheel rotates. AOn the other hand, it must not be so soft Athat the surface thereof wears away due to the sliding of cards back Aand forth thereover, or that the pin mounting engaging slots wear or pound or distort out of shape.

Moreover, I have also discovered that the flexibility and elasticity of thermoplastic material which has a medium hardness or brittleness, is sufficient to enable rail sections thereof, as molded, to be usedinterchangeably on the periphery of the wheel without regard to small differences in the spacing of the pins upon which they areV mounted. This characteristic not only eliminates the necessity of `hand filing or tt'ing the rail sections, but alsogenables the rail sections to hold tight on the pins and `eliminates the clicking noise which has 'been .due to looseness in Vthe 'metal pin and metal Vslot mounting thereof.

Accordingly, it is a further object of the present invention to provide a rotary card index or tray with a carrying-.rail formed of molded thermoplastic material with cards mounted thereon to overcome .the described prior art difculties, and to obtainY the new results set forth and the advantages of the .discoveries enumerated.

These and other objects may .be obtained, the stated results achieved, and the described diniculties overcome, `by the devices, constructions, arrangements, combinations, parts, and elements which comprisethe present invention, the nature of which is set forth in the following general statement, preferred embodiments of which are .set forth in the following description, and are shown in the drawings, and which are particularly and distinctly pointed out and lset forth in the appended claim forming part hereof.

The nature 'of theimprovements in rotary card indexes andtraysof the .present invention may be stated in general terms as preferably including in a card filing device a rail section preferably comprising a head and a flange constructed and arranged toreceive a multiplicity of cards having keyhole-shaped slots at their lower edges, constructing the rail section of molded thermoplastic material, and mounting cards Vthereon with their keyhole-shaped slots embracing the rail and flange.

By way of example, preferred embodiments of 4 the improved construction are illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the upper segment of a card index wheel with arcuate sections of a card carrying rail mounted thereon;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2 2, of Fig. 1

Fig. 3 is a similar section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig- 1;

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of a desk tray with a removable arcuate rail section therein;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a removable arcuate rail .section such as used in the devices of Figs. 1 to 4, showing a number of cards carried thereon; p

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but showing a tray with an integral rail section;

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary view of the lower portion of the card with a keyhole slot engaging the head of a lrail section; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary View of a card showing `a round aperture engaged upon a round rod.

Similar numerals refer to throughout the drawings.

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show the segment IIJ of the rim of a card index wheel, composed of two halves secured together by bolts Il, with a slot I2 Vfor yreceiving the flange I3 4of an arcuate rail section 20 and the rail having the head I4 upon which the keyhole slot I5 in the lower edge of the `card I6 may be engaged and upon which the card may slide `along the rail.

yOne end of each rail flange I3 is provided with a slot 13a adapted to engage with one of the bolts li, and the other end of rai-l flange I3 is provided with an aperture Ib which is adapted to be lengaged by a locking latch I'I when the rail ange I3 is mounted in slot I2 of the wheel rim.

Another slot I3c is formed lin the rail flange I3 adjacent aperture I3b for engaging pin lI8 also carried by the rim of the card index wheel. Thus, bolts Il andpins I8 engaging in slots I3a and Isc locate, support and position the arcuate rail sections 20 on the periphery of the card index wheel I0.

Any arcuate rail section 20, with or without cards thereon, may be removed from the rim of the wheel ,I 0 by disengaging the latch I1, as shown by broken lines in'Fig. l, and the arcuate ,railsection 20, with (as in Fig. 5) or without cards thereon, can be mounted in a tray I9, as shownin Fig. 4 for inspectingand working with and on cards mounted on the rail 20.

The tray I9 illustrated in Fig. 4, is provided with' a slot 2i for receiving flange I3 of rail section 2G, andpins (not shown) are alsocarried by tray I9 for engagement with slots I3a and 'I 3cof rail .sectionr20 to position the sameon-the tray. A latch 12,2 may also be provided on `tray I9 for similar parts `engagement with aperture I3b toreleasably lock rail section 20 on thetrayl.

VAs described, tray I9 is adapted for coordinated use as a desk tray in connection with use of the wheel type index illustrated in Fig. 1. However, itis to be understood that desk trayssuch as illustrated at I9 in Fig. 4, equipped with arcuate rail sections 2U, may be used as desk card files.

Alternately, a desk card i'lle of the tray type such as illustrated in Fig. 6, may be used in wliich the rail portion 20h is integral with the trayvportion |90.. In such a construction, the forward end wall 23,is formed integral with the trayportion ISa, while the rear end wa1l24 is preferably pivotally mounted at 25 on the tray portion Isa so as to provide a stop for cards mounted on the rail 20h. The pivotal mounting 25 may be a spring type hinge normally urging the wall 24 to the position shown, but permitting its movement backward for placement or removal of cards.

Although the invention has been illustrated and described with reference to an arcuate rail having a flange I3 and a head I4, the improvements may be incorporated in an index or tray construction having a, straight rail as distinguished from an arcuate rail, or in a construction having a, round rail Ida, as indicated in Fig. 8.

Inaccordance with the present invention, the rail section, whether arcuate or straight, Whether keyhole-shape or round in cross section, and whether detachably or integrally supported is formed of a moldable thermoplastic material, such as cellulose-acetate-butyrate plastic material- 'I'he usual cards are engaged with and removed from the rail in the usual manner and may continually slide back and forth along the rail head formed of molded thermoplastic material without frayingor tearing the contacting edges of the keyhole slot I5 of the cards I6 because the sliding contact of the cards on a rail formed of molded thermoplastic material makes the surface of the rail smoother and smoother in use and decreases wear on the cards.

Moreover, the flexibility and elasticity of the thermoplastic `material enables arcuate rail sections 20 to be detachably and interchangeably used in various positions on the wheel, such as shown in Fig. 1, or on various trays such as shown in Fig. 4, Without specially tting the slots I3a and I3c with respect to the location of the bolts I I and pins I8. That is to say, the flexibility and elasticity of the thermoplastic material permits the section 20 to spring into supportedand held position and to be there tightly supported and held by the bolts II and pins IB, even though there may be an inaccurate spacing of the bolts Il and pins I8.

This arrangement also eliminates a clicking noise which frequently occurs when a card index wheel is rotated, due to looseness in the pin and slot support for mounting metal rail sections 20 on a wheel.

Moreover, the sliding movement of the cards back and forth along a rail formed of thermoplastic material during operation and use of the Wheel is much quieter than when the rail is formed of metal and the manufacture of rail sections from molded thermoplastic material is much cheaper.

Accordingly, the present invention provides for the manufacture of molded thermoplastic material carrying-rails for tray or rotary card indexes which are much cheaper than the present metal construction thereof, which eliminates the use of critical die cast and plating metals, which construction is quieter with cards in operation thereon than when metal carrying-rails are used, and which molded thermoplastic material rail construction with cards thereon substantially reduces wear on the cards.

The embodiments of the present improvements illustrated and described herein are by way of example, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the exact details of construction of the various parts. When the term rail is used herein and in the appended claims, that term is used in its broadest sense, irrespective of the character of its cross section.

Having now described the features of the invention, the construction, operation and use of preferred embodiments thereof, and the advantageous new and unexpected results attained by the improved construction; the new and useful parts, elements, combinations, constructions and devices, and reasonable mechanical equivalents obvious to those skilled in the art, are set forth in the appended claim.

I claim:

In a card index and the like, the combination of a molded thermoplastic rail section comprising a head and a, flange constructed and arranged to receive a multiplicity of paper cards having keyhole-shaped slots at their lower edges to embrace the rail head and flange to mount the cards for sliding movement to and fro along the rail, a support, spaced sets of pins carried by the support, and the flange being provided with slots engageable selectively with a set of said pins, whereby the flexibility and elasticity of the thermoplastic rail section enables the rail section to be interchangeably and tightly supported by any set of pins Without specially fitting the slots with each set of pins.

KARL I-I. MILLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,046,655 SChOleld July 7, 1936 2,168,323 Bruen Aug. 8, 1939 2,235,736 Bruen Mar. 18, 1941 2,240,325 Bruen Apr. 29, 1941 2,321,558 Trussell June 8, 1943 2,321,560 Trussell June 8, 1943 

